Black Metal Pineapple Pad Thai Recipe
** This is simply a modified version of the recipe that can be found on Episode 1 of "Vegan Black Metal Chef". He uses tamarind soup base instead of pineapple for sweetness and consistency, but as I couldn't find that in Korea and didn't want it to be overwhelmingly sweet anyway, I just chopped up some fresh pineapple and mashed it into the sauce. **
INGREEDS
- flat rice stick noodles
- peanuts
- peanut butter
- bean sprouts
- tomato(es)
- chili powder
- garlic
- green onion
- cilantro
- vinegar
- pineapple
- fresh hot peppers such as thai chilis
- salt
- lime juice (fresh limes are best, but any available lime juice will do)
- optional: tofu (for deep-frying and having with noodles, crumbling into noodles while cooking, or however), Sriracha sauce (contains chili, garlic, and vinegar and will boost all of those flavors, but probably should not be used as a substitute for them)
1. Before doing anything, soak the noodles in water on the side. By the time you're done making the sauce and getting ready to cook, they will be nice and soft and will cook easily. Using warm water especially helps.
2. If you are deciding to go the fried tofu route, you should probably also begin the process of pressing the water out of it before prepping. Cut it into your preferred portions, press it between some towels and put some weight on top. It should be ready to go by the time you are done making the sauce. Obviously you'll need to have your frying method set up as well.
3. Crush the peanuts as fine as you wish. Too fine might mess with the consistency of the finished product, but really go as far as you want.
SAUCE
4. In a mixing bowl, combine the crushed peanuts, your sweet ingredient (I, again, used pineapple), salt, chopped/grated/minced garlic and/or garlic powder (using at least some fresh garlic will make the flavor better), chili powder, vinegar, and water. Stir.
5. After this first stir, throw in your cilantro and peanut butter. You want to be mindful of the peanut butter, as adding too much could lead to the mix becoming greasy during cooking. Stir/mash it all together until you have reached your desired flavor. You want it to be soupy, as you are going to cook it in a hot pan and the water is needed to help cook the noodles.
COOKING
6. Heat some high-oleic oil (cottonseed, sunflower, peanut, vegetable, canola) in a medium-to-large saucepan or a deep frying pan with a decent lip. Throw in diced tomato, green onion, and bean sprouts to cook for about a minute.
7. Add the noodles and sauce to the hot pan with the vegetables. Turn the heat to high and stir continuously for about 6 minutes. You will notice most of the liquid cooking off, the noodles turning translucent, and your mouth watering as it will start smelling really good. Feeling some steam coming off of it while you cook is a good sign. If your sauce wasn't soupy enough to provide enough water for the noodles to fully cook (which is hard since rice noodles cook pretty quickly), just add a little more as needed to finish the job.
8. Once the liquid is cooked off and the noodles are translucent, transfer everything quickly to a serving dish to cool. Sprinkle over top with peanuts, cilantro, lime, extra chili powder/Sriracha, pineapple...as few or as much garnish as you want.
** 9. If you're doing the tofu slices, maybe go ahead and cook these while the noodles are cooling. They fry in a minute or less and cool just as quickly.
INGREEDS
- flat rice stick noodles
- peanuts
- peanut butter
- bean sprouts
- tomato(es)
- chili powder
- garlic
- green onion
- cilantro
- vinegar
- pineapple
- fresh hot peppers such as thai chilis
- salt
- lime juice (fresh limes are best, but any available lime juice will do)
- optional: tofu (for deep-frying and having with noodles, crumbling into noodles while cooking, or however), Sriracha sauce (contains chili, garlic, and vinegar and will boost all of those flavors, but probably should not be used as a substitute for them)
1. Before doing anything, soak the noodles in water on the side. By the time you're done making the sauce and getting ready to cook, they will be nice and soft and will cook easily. Using warm water especially helps.
2. If you are deciding to go the fried tofu route, you should probably also begin the process of pressing the water out of it before prepping. Cut it into your preferred portions, press it between some towels and put some weight on top. It should be ready to go by the time you are done making the sauce. Obviously you'll need to have your frying method set up as well.
3. Crush the peanuts as fine as you wish. Too fine might mess with the consistency of the finished product, but really go as far as you want.
SAUCE
4. In a mixing bowl, combine the crushed peanuts, your sweet ingredient (I, again, used pineapple), salt, chopped/grated/minced garlic and/or garlic powder (using at least some fresh garlic will make the flavor better), chili powder, vinegar, and water. Stir.
5. After this first stir, throw in your cilantro and peanut butter. You want to be mindful of the peanut butter, as adding too much could lead to the mix becoming greasy during cooking. Stir/mash it all together until you have reached your desired flavor. You want it to be soupy, as you are going to cook it in a hot pan and the water is needed to help cook the noodles.
COOKING
6. Heat some high-oleic oil (cottonseed, sunflower, peanut, vegetable, canola) in a medium-to-large saucepan or a deep frying pan with a decent lip. Throw in diced tomato, green onion, and bean sprouts to cook for about a minute.
7. Add the noodles and sauce to the hot pan with the vegetables. Turn the heat to high and stir continuously for about 6 minutes. You will notice most of the liquid cooking off, the noodles turning translucent, and your mouth watering as it will start smelling really good. Feeling some steam coming off of it while you cook is a good sign. If your sauce wasn't soupy enough to provide enough water for the noodles to fully cook (which is hard since rice noodles cook pretty quickly), just add a little more as needed to finish the job.
8. Once the liquid is cooked off and the noodles are translucent, transfer everything quickly to a serving dish to cool. Sprinkle over top with peanuts, cilantro, lime, extra chili powder/Sriracha, pineapple...as few or as much garnish as you want.
** 9. If you're doing the tofu slices, maybe go ahead and cook these while the noodles are cooling. They fry in a minute or less and cool just as quickly.
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Photo by Claire Harris
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looks great. if you want tamarind you can get sour tamarind at the foreign food market in a package:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.21food.com/products/sour-tamarind-353128.html
you need to soak them in hot water for about 10 minutes to get the pulp and remove the seeds.